The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "young adults" ...
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Young and In Trouble: Different Paths for Punishment (part 1) and The Challenge of Rehabilitation (part 2)
This investigation exposed "a huge racial imbalance between the number of white and black youths sent to adult prison in the Bay area, statewide and nationally." The review focused on teens ages 13-17 sentenced to adult prison. Most of the youths sent to adult prison were black; white juvenile delinquents were more likely to be sentenced to house arrest or be put on probation. These articles look at possible hidden causes for the disparity, like the fact that police spend more time in black neighborhoods so are more likely to catch black criminals than white ones. The article also explores the idea that the records don't reflect racism; rather, the situation shows how poor delinquents are more likely to end up in adult prison. The article discusses how being in adult prison affects kids differently than being in a youth-oriented rehabilitation program.
Tags: prison; jail; incarceration; juvenile delinquents; teen court; YES; racial discrimination
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Losing a Generation: Young adults abandon Cincinnati, looking for more opportunity and excitement. City leaders waking up to value of keeping vital, energetic group.
According to the author, "Cincinnati's young adults are growing up and moving out at alarming rates. More than 7,200 people born between 1966 and 1975 left Hamilton County in the 1990s, a nearly 6 percent loss. Only nine of the nation's 75 largest metro-counties lost young people at higher rates. Now, the flight of Generation X is prompting a significant shift in urban approach -- to lure and keep the young."
Tags: generation x; moving; jobs; employment; young adults
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Boomer Havens and Young Adult Magnets
Census 2000 data show an increasing divide in geographic distribution patterns between the Baby Boomer generation and the Young Adult generation. Most Boomers live in New England and the eastern seaboard, the upper Midwest, the upper Rocky Mountain west and the Pacific Northwest. More Young Adults are opting to live in the Sun Belt areas of the South and most of the West.
Tags: Demographics; Census 2000; census; Baby Boomers; Young Adult
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Kids In Prison
A Miami Herald investigation on the effects of Florida's tough law addressing juvenile crime shows "a punishment system gone awry." The series examines how, rather than deterring juvenile crime, the state's policies seem to be encouraging it. "Instead of targeting violent criminals, the crackdown is falling hardest on nonviolent offenders - those convicted of burglary, theft and drug charges," the Miami Herald reports. The investigation is based on the analysis of databases of inmates, assaults against youth offenders in Florida's adult prisons, and recidivism records. The data shows that, after being released from prison, most young offenders become hardened criminals.
Tags: CAR; crime; FOI requests; corrections; children; teenagers; assaults; courts; judges
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Selling Atlanta's Children
The Journal-Constitution investigates teenage prostitution in Atlanta. The investigation focuses on the fact that prostitutes as young as 10 are going to jail while the adult men who exploit them go free. As a result of the investigation the state legislature passed laws making pimping minors a felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and allowing the government to seize assets of those involved in child prostitution. Eleven alleged pimps were arrested on racketeering after the series ran.
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Is This Justice?
The Post-Gazette was challenged by the chief judge of the juvenile system to watch and see how new "adult time" for youth offenders legislation worked out. That's just what they did. They found that young offenders sentenced as adults were more likely to re-offend; they usually spent less time in jail; and they were more likely to commit crimes while out on bail -- something not allowed in the juvenile system. The investigation also found that black youths were more likely to be charged as adults and were given much longer sentences than white offenders.
Tags: juvenile justice; sentencing; prison
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The suburbs hidden scourge
The Daily Herald examines the quiet infiltration of heroin and "club drugs" into Chicago's western and northwestern suburbs. Their investigation found that heroin and club drugs such as ecstasy and meth were responsible for the deaths of 13 suburban teens and young adults. Parents in many of the communities were unable to spot the drug usage before it was too late; while authorities are unable to stop the flow of drugs into the suburbs because the source of many of the drugs is unknown. The series deals with how teens and young adults by and get hooked on drugs as well as the effect it has on their families. The reporters also look into the efforts being made at stopping the drug influx and how teens are rehabilitated.
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"The most dangerous drug to hit small-town America since crack cocaine"?
A Spin investigation reveals that OxyContin - supposed to be the strongest and safest painkiller - turned out to cause rush that could rival pure heroin's. The drug caused a new type of frenetic street violence - beatings, fights, and robberies - in the rural areas of the country, the magazine reports. The article depicts the dare problems of the new addicts - including old ladies, teenage drugstore cowboys and young adults. The manufacturer, Purdue Pharma, and the federal regulators failed to anticipate the potential abuse of the 'miracle drug,' the investigation finds.
Tags: prescription drugs; health; heroine; cocaine; Drug Enforcement Administration; business
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Filling in the blanks
Washington City Paper examines the reasons for the relatively high dropout rate in D.C. The story looks at the difficulties that those who have left school face, when they try to earn adult basic education. A second, "shadow school system," which consists of adult learning centers at churches and community organizations, enrolls thousands of students per year. Few, however, succeed to pass the General Education Diploma (GED) exam. The reporter points to statistics showing that over the last decade the proportion of students graduating from high schools has been decreasing, while the proportion of those who earn their diploma through alternative means has been increasing. The very low high school graduation rate in D.C. affects the need for city services, limits the ability of private businesses to find trainable employees, and cripples the ability of young mothers and fathers to find jobs that pay a decent wage, the newspaper reports.
Tags: schools; poverty; low income; minorities; unemployment; labor; literacy; GED; adult learning; immigrants
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The Candy Kids
"Groups of young adults stand on street corners in New York City and sell M&M candies for charity. They claim to live in a homeless shelter, to be raising money to keep kids off drugs and to be earning points towards a High School equivalency diploma. After two months of getting to know the kids and observing them undercover, we were able to prove the whole enterprise is a fraud. They simply keep the money, each making up to $400 cash tax-free, every day."
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; children; fraud